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I am well aware that I have seriously slacked in the past month or so in terms of authorship…however, something great has come out of my crazy busy birthday month of June.

I can enter my 28th year happily knowing that the scale no longer has a strangle hold on me. I have been so busy that I have kind of let my calorie counting and weekly weigh-ins fall by the wayside…this DOES NOT mean my workouts or eating have also fallen by the weigh side – rather, I’ve realized that I have the knowledge inside me to make healthy eating and moderation decisions.

This past year of meticulous calorie counting 5 days a week has created an inherent tendency to eat within/around my daily calorie goal since I know what my days meals should look like…I now have faith in myself to give myself the freedom to make healthy choices without monitoring every piece of food in front of me…in fact, I feel it is easier since I am not constantly thinking about my days meals and when I can eat again.

My lack of time/mind being occupied with other things besides stepping on the scale most mornings…and after a month of no weigh-ins, I hesitantly stepped on the scale. GUESS WHAT?! I LOST WEIGHT! maybe this was just what I needed to relax a bit and live my life, focusing on listening to my body and trusting my own instincts. 🙂

Apologies for the stream of conscience post but I needed to share my good news!

Some of you may know at this point that I try to cram my week as full of activity and exercise as possible.

My aim most weeks is to work out at lunch and after work 3 days a week and at lunch plus rec sports (flag football and softball) the other two weekdays. On weekends me and the BF walk a gazillion miles around town if it’s nice out and I sometimes also fit in a relaxed run on Sundays.

I’m now feeling the pressure to up my weekly mileage for a half-marathon (even though it isn’t until the end of September). I am also feeling the pressure to look my best and work my a$$ off for purely aesthetic reasons for upcoming weddings and a bachelorette trip to MIAMI in August.

That being said, I know that rest and recovery is incredibly important for a hard working body and also that it will be very important as I continue to up my mileage every week heading in to the half. How then do I get over the guilt I feel about a “day off”? I struggle on the days (like today) that I force myself to relax and take a (well-deserved) break. It seems as though those days weigh on me mentally and make me feel like a blob…which I am well aware that they shouldn’t.

How do all of you hard workers deal with this mindset? Do you even encounter it? Help a sister out and let me know I’m not alone!

1) I hate evening races. I get so nervous and worked up before a race that my stomach is in knots. This is fine to wake up to and deal with in the morning before something like a 9am start. Let’s be honest, once the gun goes off and your legs start pumping all the nerves disappear and you just focus on the rhythm of the run.

2) Trust in your training. I trained consistently and yet I was still so nervous about meeting my sub 60 minute goal. However, when I crossed the finish line at 56:41 I realized how silly that was!

So now, on to the next! My 1/2 marathon is coming up in September and training started this week…I got one run in before I slipped and hurt my foot messing around in the house…oh well. One day off and back to it! Stay the course. 🙂

It’s almost here…my first 10k! Two weeks from tomorrow I will be lining up for Ottawa race weekend with many (many, many, many) other runners. These runners will also include 3 ladies that have been motivation for my training the whole way through, including running a confidence building 5k a few weeks ago.

As the race looms ever closer I am getting excited! No matter what I run it will be a personal best since none of my races have been longer than 5k and my training runs don’t get recorded anywhere except my nike + app. Now, don’t get me wrong I am super nervous but in an excited, butterflies in my tummy way.

I am also starting to realize my training runs are getting fewer and next week will be time to taper. It’s funny how when you begin training you look ahead and think those runs will take forever to complete. It feels like there are hundreds before the race…but then you wake up one day and its time to stuff the excuses and line up with your pace bunny!

So folks, wish me luck. Once this race is done it will be time to get into training for my 1/2 marathon in September…but that is months away…for now.

Apologies for my absence but I was traveling for work last week and it left me absolutely wiped.

However, I needed to take the time to write about this past weekend as I’m so proud of someone! A friend of mine’s baby sister ran her first 5k last Sunday!!!

We all signed up to run a 5k fundraiser for make a wish foundation and even though she is not someone who considers herself a runner she jumped in for the challenge enthusiastically. She may have been incredibly nervous, and may have needed to borrow a sports bra and scrounge around for some old runners in her sister’s basement…but she did it! (In 33 minutes no less – a great first time!!)

All 5 of us finished in the top 27 and after worrying about not having pushed my pace enough lately I managed to shave a whole minute off of my time last year! I’m proud of all of us and super pumped for our 10k next month (25 days to be exact).

I hope you all get out there and take a page from my friends little sis’ book…try something new and active. Who knows you just may end up loving it!!

Today I had a last minute meeting with execs thrown my way because my boss was sick. Also, this meeting was scheduled even after my normal work hours…but being me and relatively ambitious I pounced on the opportunity to have my boss gain more confidence in me – I accepted in an instant.

This is when I realized that the saying is true…there will never be time for exercise unless you MAKE TIME. I was thinking how I’d never get in my gym/run time when I realized I could fit in a Zumba class at lunch. Now I know Zumba isn’t always the most epically challenging of fitness classes, but it was better than nothing…and surprise! She snuck in a whole song of wall sits.

So, folks what is your excuse? I worked 2 hours OT today before even thinking of being off and still got my sweat on, you can do it!!!

This past week I have been reading two amazing books that have really motivated me and changed my perspective on running.

I am generally very self-competitive (which is why running is great), but it can tend to get me a bit down if I have a slow run or just miss a new personal best. After reading “Born to Run” and (in the midst of) “Eat & Run” I have been inspired! Now don’t get me wrong, both of these books are about ultramarathoners (although very different perspectives), I do not intend to start running 50 or 100 mile races…in fact, I’m not even sure I’ll ever run a marathon – or even survive the 1/2 I am registered for in September. BUT both of these books focus on the zen/meditation feeling that one can get from running when we stop focusing on time and just listen to our own bodies and relish in the fact that we are strong and capable.

On Monday completed my longest run since last summer – 13km. Although it wont break any records and my pace was slower than when I do my 5 or 10k runs I felt great! Usually if I encounter a change in plans for my run I get frustrated thinking about how my pace will be effected. This time I encountered a surprise patch of leftover snow…and when I say patch I mean like 1-2km…but instead of grumbling I just focused on short strides and every step as it happened. It felt amazing! I am hopeful that I can tap into this feeling on future runs as it was very relaxing and exhilarating all at the same time.

Also, I have a friend who recently started running even though she generally thinks of herself as someone who “hates exercise”…two weeks in and I think she might be a little addicted! She has 8 runs in already this month and is going strong…I have no doubt she will be on my tail…and then passing me in no time! So feel inspired people, no matter what you think your feelings are on exercise or how afraid of your own fitness level you are get out there!!! No matter how slow or short your run, you are still lapping everyone on the couch!!!

I would love to hear about any books or movies you have read/seen that have changed your way of looking at health or fitness…these are the two I mentioned above. 🙂